Ag Headlines, Wednesday August 12, 2015

13 States File WOTUS Injunction

A coalition of 13 states have asked a federal judge to block the controversial Waters of the U.S. rule slated to take effect later this month. Led by North Dakota, the attorney generals for eight of the 13 states filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court for District of North Dakota, according to a report by Natural Gas Intel. The states argue that the rule will harm the states sovereign interests and their state budgets during the pendency of this litigation. The states included in the request are North Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming. The group wants a nine month implementation delay in order to give the court enough time to review the legal challenges to the rule. The rule is slated to become law August 28th.

WTO Sets COOL Arbitration Meetings

The Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization will hold arbitration meetings September 15th through the 16th in Geneva. The meetings will be to consider Canada and Mexico’s proposed retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. in the Country of Origin Labeling dispute, according to Meatingplace. Canada and Mexico currently are seeking more than $3 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods following a fourth decision by the WTO that COOL was not WTO complaint. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office filed to WTO that the retaliation levels are a dramatic overestimation of damages. The U.S. requested that the WTO Arbitrator reject the amounts proposed by Canada and Mexico, and instead set the totals at no more than $43.22 million and $47.55 million, respectively. The U.S. House passed a bill to repeal COOL earlier this year. The Senate has introduced a bill to repeal COOL and another to make COOL voluntary. But a voluntary law is still faces opposition by Canada and Mexico. Canada has vowed to move forward with retaliations unless COOL is fully repealed.

Animal Rights Group Pushing for Charges against Minnesota Hog Farm

The Associated Press reports an animal rights group is calling for criminal charges to be filed against workers and managers at a southwestern Minnesota hog farm. The California based group Last Chance for Animals released an undercover video of conditions at the Christenensen Farms breeding Facility in Minnesota. A spokesperson for the group claims the video documents a pervasive pattern of cruelty and neglect. He says the groups' investigator recorded numerous instances of sick and injured sows being left to suffer for weeks. Christensen Farms CEO Glenn Stolt said in a statement "there is no place in this industry for individuals who mistreat animals." Minnesota does not have an "ag-gag" law prohibiting the recording of video at farming facilities. A proposal has been introduced at the state Legislature in recent years, but has failed to pass.

Source:  NAFB News